Van Assche wins his second match and awaits the final meeting at the ATP Next Gen

This Thursday, the Frenchman Luca Van Assche (70th in the world and No.2 seed in the tournament) provided the essentials by difficultly beating the American Alex Michelsen (97th) in five sets.

Luca Van Assche signed his second victory in three matches at the start of the evening, but will have to wait for the final match of the day to validate or not his ticket for the last four.

At 19, Arthur Fils was flawless in the group phase, winning his third victory in as many matches on Friday in four sets 4-2, 3-4 (3/7), 4-2, 4 -3 (7/5) in 1h44.

Facing the 21-year-old Swiss, 94th in the world, the Ile-de-France native showed himself to be more skillful and dominant, particularly in crucial moments. The only downside was this air gap at the end of the second round, during the deciding game, lost 7/3.

The rest of the time, Fils was able to resist his opponent’s heavy serve with good variations in his game, which allowed him to break him three times. In the other match of this group, the Italian Luca Nardi (115th) dominated his compatriot Flavio Cobolli in five sets 3-4 (4/7), 4-2, 4-3 (7/1), 1- 4, 4-3 (7/3), but the first was already eliminated while the qualification of the second depended on a victory without losing a set by Arthur Fils.

In the tighter red group, the Frenchman Luca Van Assche (70th in the world and seeded N.2 in the tournament) provided the essentials by beating with difficulty the American Alex Michelsen (97th) in five sets 4-3 (7 /0), 3-4 (4/7), 3-4 (4/7), 4-1, 4-3 (8/6). But the young Frenchman, who fought a long fight lasting more than two and a half hours, is not master of his destiny. His possible qualification for the last four will depend on the outcome of the final match of the day, between the Serbian Hamad Medjedovic and the Jordanian Abdullah Shelbayh.

With two victories in two matches, Medjedovic, 110th in the world, is in a good position. But Shelbayh, 185th in the world, can still upset the final ranking of the group. This “Next Gen Masters” serves as a laboratory for the establishment of new rules: sets in 4 winning games, elimination of the advantage at 40-A, reduction of time to serve…